Jean Rhys: Letters 1931-1966 (Penguin Twentieth Century Classics S.) - Softcover

Wyndham, Francis; Rhys, Jean

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0140189068 ISBN 13: 9780140189063

Publisher: Penguin Classics, 1995

Synopsis

In her will, Jean Rhys expressed a wish that no biography of her should be written unless authorized during her lifetime. Following her death, her literary executor was approached frequently with requests for permission to write "an official life". Finally he decided that, by compiling a volume of letters, authentic biographical information would be provided. But as the collection grew, the biographical aspect took on a secondary importance as the self-portrait began to reveal the turbulent process of literary creation. The final result is a portrait spanning the years 1931 (taking up the story roughly where it was left in "Smile Please") to 1966, when the long struggle to finish "Wide Sargasso Sea" was over.

About this title

About the Author:

Jean Rhys was born in Dominica in 1894. After arriving in England aged sixteen, she became a chorus girl and drifted between different jobs before moving to Paris, where she started to write in the late 1920s. She published a story collection and four novels, after which she disappeared from view and lived reclusively for many years. In 1966 she made a sensational comeback with her masterpiece, Wide Sargasso Sea, written in difficult circumstances over a long period. Rhys died in 1979.

About this edition

• Publisher: Penguin Classics
• Publication date: 1995
• ISBN 10: 0140189068
• ISBN 13: 9780140189063
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 320